The New Review Q&A + Simon Russell Beale | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/series/the-new-review-q-and-a+stage/simon-russell-beale
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Simon Russell Beale: 'I'm out of work from next March'https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2012/dec/01/simon-russell-beale-privates-parade
The actor on camping it up in the West End, why he doesn't read reviews, and his fear of imminent unemployment<p><strong>You are just about to open in a revival of the comedy </strong><a href="http://www.michaelgrandagecompany.com/whats-on/#privates-on-parade_page0" title=""><strong><em>Privates on Parade</em></strong></a><strong> by Peter Nichols.</strong></p><p>Yes, a very good play, set in 1948 in the early days of the <a href="http://www.nam.ac.uk/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/malayan-emergency" title="">Malayan Emergency</a> – which, a bit like Korea, is one of the forgotten wars. Oddly enough, I was born in Malaya, in Penang, in 1961 [his father was serving as an army physician]. It's autobiographical: Peter was a member of the Combined Services Entertainment Unit in Singapore with Kenneth Williams and Stanley Baxter, and it's based on that. It's quite a dark little story. Our commanding officer decides to take us up into the Malayan jungle as bait for these Chinese communists. My character [Captain Terri Dennis] is the drag performer. According to Peter, the man he's based on arrived on the quay in Singapore and said to the assembled colonels [adopts Yorkshire accent]: "Don't worry, auntie's here." So it's high camp, polari, all that. I've done musicals before: <em>Candide</em>, <em>Spamalot</em>. But I didn't sing much. Here, I've got four numbers, which is a bit scary.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2012/dec/01/simon-russell-beale-privates-parade">Continue reading...</a>Simon Russell BealeTheatreStageSat, 01 Dec 2012 16:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2012/dec/01/simon-russell-beale-privates-paradePhotograph: Karen Robinson/ObserverSimon Russell Beale: ‘I’m thin-skinned. Most actors are.’ Photograph: Karen Robinson for the ObserverPhotograph: Karen Robinson/ObserverSimon Russell Beale: ‘I’m thin-skinned. Most actors are.’ Photograph: Karen Robinson for the ObserverInterview by Rachel Cooke2012-12-01T16:00:00Z